


god troubles the water

by orangequest



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - No Hope's Peak Academy (Dangan Ronpa), Character Death, Fishing, M/M, Temporarily Unrequited Love, mermaid au, non-despair but not non-drama
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-13 11:36:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14111511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orangequest/pseuds/orangequest
Summary: He registered the wave crashing against the boat a second too late, and with his arms still outstretched, he tumbled into the void of the sea.





	god troubles the water

The Hinata family of Jabberwock Island were a painfully ordinary bunch. An ordinary mother, an ordinary father, and their painfully ordinary son. Everything from the family business to the dinner they ate was ordinary, plain, unexciting, but it wasn’t as though they had a choice in the matter. They didn’t have the money to send young Hajime off to school, to get a better job than being a ordinary, plain, unexciting fisherman.  
  
It was far from a glamorous occupation; it was as common as sand. When he was little, Hajime was curious about what his father did out on the open sea. He thought that maybe, it was like being an explorer, or a pirate.  
  
He wouldn’t be so lucky.  
  
At fifteen, while everyone else his age was away at school, making something of themselves, Hajime had to join his father on the family boat  
  
 _Not like I can do anything about it,_ Hajime thought bitterly, as he helped his father pull one of the full traps onto the deck. The crabs inside were still moving, weakly fighting against the wire cage as it was placed on the deck.  
  
“You called too early again, Hajime, but you’ll get the hang of it,” his father said, in what was likely an attempt to help but it just made him feel worse. He couldn’t even excel at something like _fishing._  
  
He scowled and opened the hatch on the cage, passing his father one crab at a time. Each one was tossed into a tank through a hole in the deck, the splashing almost rhythmic.  
  
After about fifty crabs, the water became too murky to see their catch.  
  
The rest of the day was like that, too. Surrounded on all sides by open sea, father and son trapped hundreds of the same. The spray that accompanied each heave of the trap burned his eyes while the sun beat down on his back, but the senior fisherman insisted he would get used to it in time. Hajime wasn’t sure he would.  
  
“There’s nothing better for you than salty sea air. You should be thanking me.” Hakaru slapped Hajime on the back, making him stumble as the boat rocked in choppy waters.   
  
A silence fell between them as his father took note of the sky growing dark, the clouds gathering as the sun finally dipped below the horizon. His father stared, brows furrowed. “There wasn’t supposed to be a storm today,” he murmured. As if that were the magic phrase, it began to rain and rain hard. Hakaru vanished into the cabin and returned with their jackets. They couldn’t put them on fast enough, with the wind picking up and howling strangely. An uneasy feeling creeped up on Hajime as he pulled his hood over his head.  
  
“Dad! Are you sure the news didn’t mention a storm?” he called.

“I’m positive!” his father shouted back, struggling to hold onto the wheel as he tried to steer their boat as wave after wave crashed against the side. “Secure the traps!”

Another wave crashed against the vessel, soaking Hajime’s face with salt. He faltered, but using the rail of the boat, he managed to get to the other side of the boat. All the traps had been tossed about, some overboard, some possibly broken, but Hajime did as he was asked and dragged them one by one to the cabin.

They only had four of the smaller traps, but Hajime was worried about the crane they used to drop the bigger net. It swung around slowly with each wave, and felt like a disaster waiting to happen.

Hajime grabbed the rail and started to walk towards the crane, clinging for dear life as another wave rocked the boat. Slowly but surely, the net came back around. He reached for it, leaning enough for his fingers to graze the mesh.

It felt like he was moving in slow motion, trying to bring the net aboard in the middle of that sudden storm. The cry of the wind seemed louder, and Hajime, strangely, felt lighter for it.

He registered the wave crashing against the boat a second too late, and with his arms still outstretched, he tumbled into the void of the sea.

The ocean soaked through his clothes in an instant and tried desperately to drag him down into its frigid depths, but Hajime fought. He kicked and yelled for his father, who stood helplessly at the railing.

Hajime felt something brush against his leg, and he froze, his voice dead in his throat. Pale, slender arms wrapped around his chest and dragged him back under.

He didn’t even have time to scream.

His chest grew tight and he thrashed against whatever--whoever was holding him down. The boat wasn’t even visible from beneath the waves, and a thought came to him.

_I’m going to die…?_

Hajime let out the last bit of air left in his lungs, and went limp. _I’m going to die,_ he thought.

For a few seconds, his body just floated, his mind blank as he slipped away.

**Author's Note:**

> chapter two is on its way! ive been sitting on this for a long time--i want to give a shoutout to hongmunmu who hasnt actually /seen/ this since the very earliest stages of writing and my gf who hasnt... seen this at all but has heard me blab abt it. also, the name is from the song wade in the water. anyway! 
> 
> i hope you enjoyed this prologue of sorts, and please subscribe and comment if you would like to see more! even a "i liked this!" is appreciated, no need for profound critiques yall
> 
> -razz


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